Welcome
to HiBike Ltd.'s Titanparts website. Hibike offers more
than just great bikes. We have a complete range of titanium
and titanium alloy products. Our titanium products are used
in many applications including aerospace, chemical manufacturing
plants, marine offshore rigs, automotive components, food
and pharmaceutical processing plants, recreation and sports
equipment, pigment enhancers, medical implants and surgical
devices and even candy.

Titanium can be manufactured in various forms: sheets, strips,
plates, billets, bars, rods, ingots, extrusions, pipe, tubing
(seamless and seam-welded), coil, and wire. Titanium can
also be forged welded, machined, or other fabricating processes
to reach a desired product. These processes are extremely
difficult to accomplish and require custom cutting tools
along with an expertise to know-how to use them.
We are one such company. We pride ourselves on being able
to supply high-end, performance Titanium parts for our many
well-respected customers across varying industries around
the world. With our testing center now in place and our
continuing effort to form close relationships and continual
communication with our customers and manufacturing factories,
we can make high-quality, low-defect pieces to meet our
customers' meticulous requirements. Come join us.

History of Titanium:

Titanium was first discovered in Cornish beach sands
back in 1791 by an English chemist and mineralogist named
William Gregor. It was then actually identified in 1795
by a German chemist, Martin H. Klaproth, who gave it it's
name we still use today...Titanium.

A pure form of metallic titanium was isolated in its in
1910 by Matthew Hunter at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
with cooperation with General Electric Company. In 1946,
William Kroll proved that titanium alloys could be used
commercial by combining titanium tetrachloride with magnesium.
Titanium got its first major push during and after World
War II when a need for a stronger lighter substance was
needed for the war effort. Today, titanium production exceeds
50 million pounds annually has maintained a steady growth
rate over the past 50 years.

Titanium ranks ninth in the most common elements in the
earths crust but is never found in its pure form. Most of
the titanium mined today formed approximately 1.8 million
years ago and is mined from mostly streams or rivers where
it is found most concentrated. Titanium concentrations are
found mostly in China, Australia, South Africa, and the
United States where it is extracted commercially from the
ore minerals Rutile and Ilmenite.

The two most common titanium alloys are Ti 6-4 (6% Aluminum,
4% Vanadium, 90% Titanium) and Ti 3-2.5 (3% Aluminum, 2.5%
Vanadium, Titanium 94.5%). Ti 3-2.5 is used mostly for making
tubing while Ti 6-4 is used for making structural componentry.

Titanium's Purification:

Minerals and sand deposits are removed from the titanium
mixture through several refining stages where a mixture
of titanium dioxide (Ti)
is produced. At this stage in the refining process, the
substance is remarkably white in color and is used as pigment
enhancer in paints, plastics, cosmetics, and sunscreens
because of its durable, bright, and rich characteristics.
Further refinement is needed for other metallic products.
The mixture of titanium dioxide mixed and heated (550°C)
with a chlorinator to create titanium tetrachloride ().
Purification of this volatile liquid is then necessary and
needs an inert argon atmosphere to avoid atmospheric gas
contaminations in the final product. Using metallic sodium
or magnesium and a significant amount of heat, pure metallic
titanium can be extracted. The metal is then melted and
cast into shape.